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Some interesting news this week about the impending production of Man of Steel 2, or what has become known on the internet as Superman vs. Batman. While rumor had it that the production would film in Vancouver, producers have changed course and decided to bring their millions of dollars to Detroit instead. The ostensible reason was…

…the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman in the sequel to Man of Steel. From his twitter feed: “@SenatorLeahy: Ben’s a great pick for #Batman & a New Englander to boot. I guess that means I’m out of the running…” In case you missed it, one of Leahy’s well-known eccentricities is that he’s a huge…

In case you were doing other things last night and, you know, have a life, here’s the news: Ben Affleck will play Bruce Wayne/Batman in the recently-announced sequel to Man of Steel, informally known as Batman vs. Superman. Reaction to the news has been…well, exactly as bad you might expect. Even though Affleck has officially…

Before we embark upon the unvarnished hero-worship of Man of Steel, let us take a long, perhaps last look at Tony Stark, the apotheosis of an era of superheroes who are defined as much by their faults as their virtues. Like all superheroes, Stark represents the best of humanity – courage, cunning, and physical fortitude…

I have now watched the trailer for Man of Steel, the Zack Snyder-directed Superman movie premiering June 14, twice and had two very different reactions. Watching it at home on my laptop, it looked like a solid, modern take on the world’s most famous superhero. But this trailer was not meant to be watched on…

The late Gene Siskel once described the job of being a film critic as “covering the national dream beat.” What he meant is that the movies document our collective unconscious. We may go to the movies to escape, but because the movies trade on our fantasies and not our conscious fears and desires, they often…

Warning: Minor spoilers ahead. No movie exists in a vacuum. Every film is subject to political interpretations and various levels of expectations. This is especially true for the so-called “serious film,” which injects social, political, or cultural criticism into an art form created for the masses. For the American viewing public, “The Dark Knight Rises”…